Citizenship Act: Gatherings banned in Bengaluru and rest of Karnataka from tomorrow amid protests

10.51 pm: The All Assam Students’ Union has announced a series of programmes to be held during the week to protest against the amended Citizenship Act, reports News18. “On December 21, women will observe a sit-in demonstration across the state,” it said, adding that there will be another such demonstration for the general public on December 23. “On December 24, 26 and 28, protest demonstration will take place all over the state.”

10.40 pm: Chinese Consul General to Kolkata Zha Liyou says the protests across the country against the amended Citizenship Act is India’s internal matter, reports PTI. “We have nothing to say on it,” he adds. “It’s your country and you have to resolve your own issues.”

10.35 pm: Karnataka Congress leader G Parameshwara says imposition of prohibitory orders under Section 144 without any threat of violence is a “gross abuse of power by the state government”. “It is intended to curb the peaceful protests organised by students against CAA and NRC,” he tweets. “Why is state government silencing young voices? Is it scared of them?”

10.30 pm: Congress says the amendments to the Citizenship Act is a clear violation of the right to equality described in the Constitution. “There is no provision to find out the harassment and it is selective,” the party tweeted. “The strange thing is that the word ‘torture’ does not exist in the Act and there is no mention of it. It is limited to statements only. The torture convention, which provides for giving shelter to the oppressed people, has been signed by India.”

9.30 pm: Bengaluru City Commissioner Bhaskar Rao says those who violate the prohibitory orders will be booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, according to The Indian Express.

8.49 pm: Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai tells The News Minute that the prohibitory orders will be imposed as “a precautionary measure” as the government does not want any violence.

8.46 pm: The police chief of Bengaluru, Bhaskar Rao, tells The News Minute that prohibitory orders under Section 144 will be imposed in the state, including the city, from Thursday 6 am till midnight on December 21. New protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act are scheduled to be held on Thursday.

8.02 pm: A new video of the Delhi Police firing at the protestors during the demonstrations on Sunday has emerged, NDTV reports. The police had claimed that they used “maximum restraint, minimum force” and did not use firearms. Two students Ajaz, a 22-year-old BA student, and Shoaib Khan, a 23-year-old student from the Jamia were admitted in Safdarjung Hospital with bullet wounds, doctors had said.

7.40 pm: Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy says it will be difficult to implement the amended citizenship law, reports ANI. “So, Puducherry will also toe the line of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh,” he adds.

7.30 pm: Assam government to bring in a legislation to protect land rights and language of ethnic people, BJP leader Chandra Mohan Patowary tells India Today.

7.22 pm: Kanhaiya Kumar says protests against the citizenship law would go down in history “as the one that saved the Constitution”, reports PTI.

7.20 pm: The former JNU student’s union president says the amended Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens should be opposed “tooth and nail”, but the protests should not veer off the path of peace.

7.15 pm: Kanhaiya Kumar says National Register of Citizens is more controversial than the amendments made to the Citizenship Act, reports PTI. “If the NRC is implemented pan-India, we all will have to stand in long queues like the demonetisation days,” he adds.

7.10 pm: Former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar protests outside Jamia Millia Islamia University, reports PTI. He says the demonstrations are not just a fight to protect Muslims, but to protect entire country.

6.25 pm: A protest against amendments to the Citizenship Act turns violent in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district, reports PTI. Authorities have suspended internet services for 48 hours.

6.18 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath accuses people of speaking “Pakistan’s language” on opposition to the recent amendments to the Citizenship Act, reports PTI.

6.15 pm: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres expresses concern over the violence and alleged excessive use of force by security personnel during student protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in India, reports PTI.

6.10 pm: The Aam Aadmi Party chief says the economy is in a bad state and asks who will provide jobs to the “crores of people who will come from neighbouring countries...Our own people do not have jobs...situation is bad for our own people.”

6.06 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal questions the need for the amendments made to Citizenship Act while speaking to News18. “Those who come from outside the country will be provided documents by our government but India’s citizens who do not have documents will have to go away from the country,” he asks. “Why was this kind of law needed? There are so many other issues that need attention.”

5.55 pm: Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police Alok Kumar says two cases have been filed and eight people have been arrested for the violence in Northeast Delhi’s Seelampur area on Tuesday, reports ANI. “We are identifying people through the video footage we have,” he adds. “Strict Action will be taken against those found guilty.”

Demonstrators had pelted stones at police personnel, damaged public buses, and burnt vehicles during protest against the amended Citizenship Act.

5.52 pm: A Delhi court dismisses the bail of one of the accused Mohd Hanif in the Jamia violence case, reports ANI. The court says there is reasonable apprehension that he might indulge in similar behaviour if released at this stage which could not be conducive to maintenance of peace and harmony.

5.50 pm: BJP MPs Nishith Pramanik and Khagen Murmu were arrested while trying to visit violence-hit areas of Malda district of West Bengal, reports PTI.

5.45 pm: Muzammil Hoque, press secretary of Popular Front of India, has also been arrested, BJP leader Chandra Mohan Patowary says at a press conference.

5.30 pm: Popular Front of India leader Aminul Haque has been reportedly arrested but police are refusing to divulge more details about it.

5.25 pm: Kamal Hassan says he is not allowed to enter the university, reports ANI. “Till I die, I will call myself a student, I have come here in that capacity to be their defender,” he adds. “I will keep voicing whether or not I have started a party and now that I have started a party it becomes my duty to be here.”

5.20 pm: Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan meets students of Madras University in Chennai who are protesting amended Citizenship Act, reports ANI.

5.12 pm: “All those people who believe in the Constitution of India will never allow the implementation of this black Act,” says Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on the Citizenship Amendment Act.

5.11 pm: West Bengal Governor Dhankar adds that an elected government is completely bound to abide by the law of the land. He says Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took an oath to act according to Constitution and the Citizenship Amendment Act was part of Constitution.

5.09 pm: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar says there is fear associated with the Citizenship Amendment Act in the state’s Malda and Murshidabad districts. “Citizenship Act doesn’t affect the interest of any Indian citizen,” he says, according to ANI. “I’ve indicated to seniormost bureaucrats and director general of police that I would like to visit the affected areas.”

5.03 pm: Delhi’s Joint Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar says the situation is completely under control after violence broke out in Seelampur area on Tuesday. “We want to give a message that strict action will be taken against those who try to disrupt law and order in the area,” he tells ANI. The police has carried out flag marches in Mustafabad and Ghonda areas of the national Capital.

4.46 pm: Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says there is no threat to citizenship of Indian Muslims. “Citizenship Amendment Act is to provide citizenship and not to take away citizenship of any person,” he says at an event in New Delhi, according to PTI.

4.43 pm: Police is keeping a close eye on social media accounts spreading misinformation. “Appropriate action will be taken if anyone is found violating the laws,” an unidentified senior official tells PTI. The situation in the national Capital is largely peaceful, and the only protest in the city is near Jamia Millia Islamia University, the official adds.

4.39 pm: Police and paramilitary forces have carried out flag marches in North East Delhi’s Seelampur and Jafrabad area. Officials have been closely monitoring the area to make sure the situation is peaceful, PTI reports.

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4.36 pm: The Delhi Police has arrested two more people in connection with the violence in Seelampur area. The total number of arrests is now eight, reports PTI.

3.18 pm: In an attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Banerjee says that he is no longer just a BJP leader. She says that he should ensure peace is maintained in the country. “Amit Shah’s job is to douse the fire,” the chief minister says, according to India Today.

Banerjee led protest march against the Citizenship Amendment Act from Howrah Maidan area in Howrah district to Esplanade in Kolkata.

3.16 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accuses the Bharatiya Janata Party of not staying true to its promise of “sabka saath, sabka vikas [development for all]” and instead bringing about “sabke saath sarvanash [catastrophe for all]”, reports NDTV.

“You say no one will lose citizenship,” she says. “But now you say no PAN, no Aadhar, nothing will work. Then what will work? An amulet from the BJP? The BJP has become a washing machine.”

3.05 pm: A Delhi High Court judge has transferred pleas related to the Citizenship Amendment Act protests at Jamia Millia Islamia University to a bench of High Court Chief Justice according to the Supreme Court’s orders, reports PTI.

2.40 pm: Northeast Frontier Railway Chief Public Relations Officer tells ANI that eight long-distance trains will be restored to alleviate the problem of stranded passengers.

2.29 pm: Delhi’s traffic police issues advisory to residents to avoid roads around the Shaheen Bagh area. “About 700 to 800 people gathered at the protest site at Shaheen Bagh on Wednesday morning,” Additional Police Commissioner (Traffic) says, according to News18. “The protest is going on here for the last two to three days. As a precautionary measure, Delhi Traffic Police issued advisory for the general public to avoid the roads around the area.”

2.25 pm: Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East Delhi) RP Meena says the six arrested for Tuesday’s violence in Seelampur are locals. Others are yet to be identified. “Three FIRs have been registered at Seelampur, Jafrabad, and Dayalpur,” he tells ANI.

2.17 pm: A group of lawyers in Telangana holds demonstrations in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act while another section protests against the amended law outside the Telangana High Court, reports News18. Protestors raise slogans of “Save India and Save Constitution”, and “We want justice”.

1.52 pm: Urdu writer Mujtaba Hussain has declared he will return his Padma Shri award in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. “The situation in the country is becoming worse day by day and in my lifetime I have never witnessed such situations,” he tells ANI. “The Ganga-Jamuna Tehjeeb is being affected and country is getting separated in the name of religion and hatred. As a normal Urdu writer, I have have decided to return my Padma Shri award in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.”

Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb is an Urdu term used to talk about the culture of the central plains of North India.

1.40 pm: Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy says his party is against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, reports ANI.

1.35 pm: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami defends his party’s decision to support the amendments to the Citizenship Act in Parliament, reports PTI. “The Citizenship Amendment Act will not impact any Indian living in India, whichever religion they may profess,” he says.

1.32pm: Mamata Banerjee begins her march against the Citizenship Amendment Act from Howrah Maidan area in Howrah district to Esplanade in Kolkata, reports PTI.

1.17 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says Aam Aadmi Party’s name is being dragged into the recent violence in Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act. “Why will AAP do this?” he says in a press conference. “How will we be benefit? We all should maintain peace. Only those who are fearing defeat in the upcoming elections are inciting riots.”

1.06 pm: Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party members protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Lucknow, reports ANI.

12.59 pm: Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik has compared Union Home Minister Amit Shah to British General Reginald Dyer, who ordered soldiers to open fire on a crowd of nearly 400 unarmed Indians assembled at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in 1919, ANI reports.

On Tuesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had compared the police action against protestors at the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi to the massacre.

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12.56 pm: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik says the Citizenship Amendment Act has nothing to do with Indian citizens as it only deals with foreigners. “The Biju Janata Dal MPs both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have made it clear that we do not support the NRC [National Register of Citizens]. I appeal to the citizens to let peace prevail and not to indulge in rumour-mongering.

12.38 pm: Protests ensue at a few other campuses in Tamil Nadu, including the New College in Chennai and Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, reports PTI. Police has removed a group of protesting students from Bharathiar University as an event is scheduled.

12.37 pm: A group of students of the University of Madras continue protests against the amended Citizenship Act amid deployment of police personnel, reports PTI.

12.26 pm: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President MK Stalin says his party held a meeting on the Citizenship Amendment Act. “We passed a resolution for its revocation,” he tells ANI. “We will hold a rally in Chennai against this Act on 23rd December.”

12.21 pm: The Delhi High Court will also hear the plea seeking the release of three students of Jamia Millia Islamia University. Justice Vibhu Bakhru to take up the matter

12.18 pm: United Nations raises concerns over the alleged use of “excessive force” during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. “We call for restraint and urge full respect for the rights of freedom of opinion and expression and peaceful assembly,” says spokesperson for the secretary general Stéphane Dujarric during a media briefing.

12.12 pm: The All India Students’ Association has condemned the Delhi Police’s first information report against three students of Jamia Millia Islamia University, reports The Indian Express.

12.09 pm: The Supreme Court is expected to hear the pleas challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act on January 22, 2020. The top court has asked the Centre to file its response by the second week of January, reports Bar and Bench.

12.02 pm: Protests ensue against the Citizenship Amendment Act outside Jamia Millia Islamia University, reports PTI. The protestors, including students and local residents, hung a large map of India outside the university’s gate number seven, reports PTI. The map shows the places where students from other universities carried out demonstrations.

11.51 am: After a Jamia Nagar Police committee meeting, South East Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal says officials have been asked to maintain law and order and not pay attention to rumours, reports The Indian Express. “We held meeting with locals and listened to their perspective as a confidence-building measure,” the police officer says.

11.42 am: The Supreme Court Bench, comprised of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, and Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant asks the Attorney General about his views on Upadhyay’s “unusual request”. The top court asks if an order is required in the matter, to which the Attorney General replies in the negative.

11.36 am: Upadhyay says people are protesting against the amended Citizenship Act but they are unaware of its details. “I visited Jamia, visited Seelampur,” he tells the court, according to Bar and Bench. “People don’t know about the Act.”

11.33 am: Lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay submits that his plea does not challenge the Citizenship Amendment Act but asks for a direction for the authorities to publicise the aims and objectives of the amended law, reports Bar and Bench.

11.23 am: Lawyers attempt to make submissions on the matter of getting a stay order. The court has fixed the next hearing for January 2020, reports Bar and Bench.

11.21 am: The petitioners challenging the amended Citizenship Act have argued that the legislation promotes discrimination on the basis of religion, reports Live Law.

11.18 am: The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to file a response by the second week of January on the pleas challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act, reports Live Law.

11.15 am: Supreme Court issues notice to the central government on a series of nearly 60 petitions against the Citizenship Amendment Act, reports Bar and Bench.

11.06 am: After a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind on the Citizenship Amendment Act, Bahujan Samaj Party MP Satish Chandra Mishra says: “We told him that Citizenship Amendment Act is wrong and in violation of the preamble, Articles 14 and 21. We requested him to take steps to revoke it.”

He says the party also urged Kovind to set up a judicial investigation into the police action on students.

10.47 am: Delhi High Court has agreed to hear the petition seeking constitution of a fact-finding committee to investigate the violence at Jamia Millia Islamia University on Sunday, reports Bar and Bench. The plea will be listed for hearing on Thursday.

10.31 am: Curfew relaxed for 14 hours in Shillong but mobile internet services remain blocked, PTI reports.

10.29 am: In Assam, the curfew imposed in Dibrugarh has been relaxed from 6 am to 8 pm, reports PTI.

10.28 am: Six people have been arrested in connection with Seelampur violence, PTI reports. Two cases have been filed under Indian Penal Code sections for rioting and damaging public property.

10.27 am: Police patrols Seelampur locality a day after the violence.

10.24 am: Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure have been imposed in North East Delhi, reports ANI.

10.20 am: Protests broke out on Tuesday night in Seelampur’s Brijpuri area, PTI reports. North East Delhi Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police RP Meena told ANI that around 300 to 400 people were holding a peaceful protest but suddenly started pelting stones. “We held talks with them after which they have dispersed,” he said last night. “Situation is under control now. Few people were injured.”

An FIR was filed for the stone pelting, reports ANI.

8.50 am: Entry and exit gates at all metro stations in Delhi are open now. They had been closed briefly in the morning at two stations close to the locality where protests turned violent on Tuesday.

8.20 am: The Assam Association of North America writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the amendments will adversely impact people of Assam and the North East, PTI reports. The letter urges that the Assam Accord of 1985 be implemented in its entirety, and it should prevail over the Citizenship Act in case of any conflict.

8.15 am: A Bahujan Samaj Party parliamentary delegation will meet President Ram Nath Kovind today to discuss the Citizenship Act, ANI reports.

8.10 am: The Supreme Court will today hear a bunch of petitions challenging the amendments to the Citizenship Act.

Also read: Supreme Court to hear petitions challenging amended law on Wednesday

8.05 am: Entry and exit gates at Jafrabad and Maujpur-Babarpur metro stations are closed again, says Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

7.45 am: Former Congress MLA Asif Khan, who was among the seven persons booked for the rioting in Jamia Nagar area on Sunday, tells ANI: “Violence took place two days ago and the viral video was made by me yesterday in reaction to an inciting video by Jamia Nagar’s Station House Officer. I’ve been protesting peacefully in Shaheen Bagh. Why cases are being registered in New Friends Colony and Jamia Nagar?”

7.30 am: Here are the top updates from Tuesday:

• The Supreme Court said the pleas against police action on students at Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University should be referred to relevant High Courts. The top court also refused to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the police action against students.
• A delegation of Opposition leaders met President Ram Nath Kovind and urged him to advise the government to withdraw the amendments. They also urged him to direct the government to set up an inquiry panel to investigate police violence in Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi.
• Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah refused to back down, and said the Centre would do everything in its power to ensure the law is implemented.
  
• In Delhi, protests turned violent in Seelampur area as demonstrators pelted stones at police personnel, damaged public buses, and burnt vehicles. Police fired tear gas shells and baton-charged the mob. In the evening in Chennai, police entered the University of Madras campus amid a student protest. Two students were allegedly detained.
• Speaking in Jharkhand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged students to debate and protest against government policies they disagree with, but asked them to be wary of “urban Naxals” who he claimed were using them for their politics. He blamed the Congress and other Opposition parties for creating fear among Muslims about the amendments to the Citizenship Act. He dared the Opposition to declare that it was willing to give Indian citizenship to all Pakistanis.